


Are friends electric

by Bill_Longbow



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Rating May Change, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 20:17:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12116439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bill_Longbow/pseuds/Bill_Longbow
Summary: In a world where conglomerate businesses rule, everything goes in order to acquire more knowledge, more money, more power.Bucky is on an assignment to steal something valuable enough to upset the status quo.





	Are friends electric

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mitochondrials](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitochondrials/gifts).



> For the awesome prompt by Mitochondrials who gave me: 1980's synthpop steampunk
> 
> This fic isn't beta-ed, so if you spot any glaring mistakes, please tell me.  
> Comments are always welcome!

He hated this city with a passion, always hot and humid, smelling like sewage. He wiped his brow, careful not to jostle his hair, it had taken some effort to slick it back just right. He was dressed to the nines, yuppie-style. Oversized dark grey blazer over a soft purple shirt and purple polka dot tie. He had thrown up a little in his mouth when he put it on, but he had to look the part.  
  
He was on his way to his target, it looked simple enough on paper, but he was in this line of work long enough to expect the worst.  
He made his way through the narrow streets, careful to stay on the boards that passed for a sidewalk around here. The wood was slick with substances of unknown origin (better that way) and rotted through in places. Still better than walking through the sludge beside it.  
  
It was busy, office workers were all on their way home or in search of entertainment. The twilight was lit up by the warm hues of candles in the shop windows, and the unnatural blue of the gaslight lamps in the more expensive places.  
  
Suddenly the torrential rain came down, (had he mentioned he hated this city?) clearing the streets of people, everyone seeking refuge from the downpour.  
  
He found shelter in a noodle shop. The smells of spices and frying, intermingled with the unwashed body odour of the Asians pressed up against him, at least drowned out the open sewage.  
  
He was careful to tuck his left arm in, wouldn't want anyone bumping into that.  
  
The rain let up as quick as it began. He ordered chicken noodles to go and was on his way again.  
  
The streets gradually became less crowded, more dirty. Rundown shacks leaned into each other haphazardly. He checked the paper with instructions, this couldn't be right... But he spotted the little monkey automaton above a garage door. When he went up to the door the little monkey bowed and lifted his hat. "Welcome stranger!", it squeaked.  
  
He ignored it and knocked on the door.  
  
"Hey there, that's not very polite," the monkey sounded petulant. What the heck?  
  
He narrowed his eyes at the metal contraption. "Who are you?"  
  
The monkey gripped the bar above the door with its hind legs and swung down so he was at eye level, except upside down. "Who's asking?"  
  
Bucky managed to keep in a sigh, "look, can you tell me if this is the right place to find mister Edwards?"  
  
The monkey jumped up and disappeared through a tiny door near the roof. A few moments later the garage door rattled upwards.  
  
A tinny voice came through hidden speakers. "Welcome to Edwards' mechanical marvels, your go-to place for all your engineering needs! Updates, maintenance and batteries not included." This last was delivered so fast Bucky nearly couldn't make out the words.  
  
After this message the monkey led him through a narrow hallway to a steel door. He heard the thud of a base and could faintly make out someone singing.  
  
When the monkey put his paw in a lock to the side, the door swung open and the music cut out. The singer hadn't noticed yet and bellowed "Reach out and touch faith! Dum dum dadum dum," before realising he had company.  
  
Bucky found himself in a workshop, but it was the most cluttered one he'd ever encountered. Every available space was littered with parts. A huge gaslight hung from the ceiling, casting the whole in stark shadows. Bucky squinted, where did Edwards get the electricity to run that?  
  
He was distracted from his inspection by what he assumed was the owner, who advanced on him with an inviting smile. "A foreigner! My, you're a sight for sore eyes! My tongue has muscle ache from using only the local lingo. You've got an American vibe to you, well, are you?" All this was delivered in record speed while the mechanic tried to clean his hands on a rag, tried being the operative word.  
  
He was lost for words, his briefing hadn't mentioned Edwards was this young, or this gorgeous. He looked to be about 25, clean shaven. Dark hair short on the sides and longer on top, falling in his eyes. Huge brown eyes framed by almost feminine lashes, very kissable lips… He was wearing Bucky's favourite outfit too, studded black jeans and a black band shirt on top, Glass Lady? Hadn't heard of them. Then again, he didn't exactly spend his free time perusing music stores.  
  
"You're Edwards?" Inwardly he face palmed, smooth Barnes, so smooth, but the engineer kept smiling.  
  
"The one and only! What can I do for you?"  
  
"I ehh.. I've got a bit of a problem..."  
  
This was the tricky part. He had to have a reason to not only be here, but to spend some time here as well. That was why _he_ was out on this assignment, instead of Romanov or Barton. It was also the part he hated worse.  
  
The mechanic waved his arm, "Go on..."  
  
"I'd better show you", Bucky shrugged out of his jacket and took off the horrible shirt to reveal his left arm. Stark whistled between his teeth.  
  
"That's a fine piece of machinery you've got there. Mind if I ask how you come by it?"  
  
"It's not for me to tell", Bucky told him and added a pointed silence. It wasn't unknown for soldiers to have been experimented on by the government, in the hopes of getting some revenue out of the poor amputated sods. It was Bucky's gamble Edwards would think this was the case.  
  
"Well, then I won't pry, mister.…?"  
  
"Bateman, but call me James please." He stuck out his hand, which was ignored by Edwards who only had eyes for the mechanical arm.  
  
"What did you do to this beauty, mister Bateman?"  
  
"I was ambushed, several nights ago." He rubbed the back of neck with his human hand, projecting an aura of sheepishness. "Am here for business for a few weeks, searched for a little company, you know how it is... Got jumped on when I left my hotel. Bastards got a good hit in."  
  
He turned a little to show his upper arm. "If I didn't have this baby they would've stabbed me in the chest. I'm lucky I could break the nose of one of them, seemed to scare them off."  
  
In reality he had snuck of into an alley, jabbed the knife in himself and then ruffled and dirtied his clothes. He had emerged back on the main road, teetering and yelling for help from non-existent assailants.  
  
Edwards had crossed his arms, face giving nothing away. "Right, lucky indeed... And who gave you the advice to come to me?"  
  
'I've ah, I've asked around, mentioned I'm interested in buying my own automaton. Your name came up several times... I don't want anyone to know about the arm Edwards." Eyes wide, looking scared.  
  
Edwards nodded and started to scribble furiously on a piece of paper. He motioned with his other hand without looking up. "Take a seat mister Bateman, I'll be with you in a sec."  
  
He made his way over to the bench Edwards had indicated, cataloguing everything in his path. He saw at least two concealed cameras and a vent he couldn't explain the meaning of. The monkey had taken a seat near the back wall and was watching his progress.  
  
It seemed Edwards bought the subterfuge so far, but Bucky didn't let himself relax, the smallest details could give you away, and apparently he had to play his part to more than one set of eyes. So he drummed the fingers of his human hand on his leg, feigning nervousness, while gawking openly at all the pieces of machinery. He startled badly when one off the vents near the ceiling blew off steam.  
  
"You act like it's your first time in a workshop." Edwards came over wearing a weird contraption on his head, some kind of goggles, but with multiple lenses, connected on the side with gears.  
  
"That might be true Edwards, maintenance usually takes place in a sterile lab."  
  
"Does it now." Edwards was rummaging through some drawers, picking up and discarding tools. "Aha!" He came over with a tray filled with miniature screwdrivers and sat down next to Bucky, astride the bench.  
  
"I'll first take a look, and then I'll give you an estimate of the cost, sounds good?"  
  
He didn't wait for Bucky to nod before he snapped on the goggles, which gave off light! Where had he found those? Portable gaslights were usually clunky, the smallest he had seen, and used, were top secret military grade. He didn't have to feign surprise this time.  
  
Edwards smirked, "you like them? Made these myself, was tired of headaches while working in subpar lighting. Okay, if you could sit still now..."  
  
He ground his teeth, he really hated it when someone messed with his arm. Regular maintenance was bad enough, trusting a stranger with it was hell. Luckily Edwards worked quickly, he found the key plate in no time and let out another whistle when he opened the upper arm. He let Bucky go through a series of motions, while watching the gears and levers move, making occasional notes.  
  
"It's not looking good I'm afraid, the damage is extensive." Edward's switched to another set of lenses, poking at the arm's innards.  
  
Abruptly he sat up and pushed the goggles on his forehead, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Okay, here's the deal. I can make quick repairs, giving you back motion of your thumb and forefinger, as well as rotation of the hand. This will come at a cost of around…" More scribbling. "310 US dollars. Leaving the big repairs to your usual mechanic. Or you let me fix her up good. That will take at least a few hours and will cost around 800 USD, but you will have full functionality of your arm back right away."  
  
He pretended to weigh both options. With a sigh he told Edwards to "please fix it to full functionality."  
  
The grin Edwards shot his way was so shark like Bucky had to suppress a shudder. "Well then, better make yourself comfortable, mister Bateman."  
  
  
  
Edwards had been working on his arm for nearly three hours straight, rebuffing all his attempts at small talk, only speaking when he needed Bucky to try a movement. If he was honest he was bored out of his mind and by now he was reasonably sure Edwards was the right target.  
  
He cleared his throat. "Edwards, if you hit a good time to stop let me know, I really gotta take a leak."  
  
"Sure, just let me... There. I'll close her up for you. Dum-E will show you where to go."  
  
Edwards sat back and pulled off the magnifying goggles, stretching his back with a loud moan. "I got carried away didn't I? Sorry 'bout that."  
  
He waved Bucky away with a distracted look on his face, reaching for his notes. Bucky searched around, he hadn't noticed an assistant, frowning at the disrespect Edwards showed by calling him a dummy.  
  
A tug on his trousers made him aware of the monkey. "Follow me," it squeaked. Huh, okay then. Household automatons who could be programmed to do simple chores were common enough, lots of people got mechanical pets, and of course Stane industries made military automatons. Then there were rumours of automatons with programs so extensive they could be called intelligent.  
  
Bucky squinted at the monkey before him. Nah, he was clearly well programmed, but an AI? That couldn't be. Dummy brought him to a door in the back, which opened into a small bathroom.  
  
Inside he tried out his arm. He could use his hand and lower arm well enough, couldn't lift his arm past 80 degrees though, but that was enough for his purposes. He quickly relieved himself.  
  
When he came back Edwards was speaking through a brass tube in the wall. "Let me know if you find anything J."  
  
Faintly he could make out a metallic sounding voice on the other side. "I strongly suggest _you_ make the first move sir."  
  
"Noted J, now get searching."  
  
The monkey screeched and Edwards put back the speaking tube.  
  
"Mind if I take a smoke? Then I'll be a good client and sit still again," Bucky grinned at Edwards, who only nodded his consent. Usually Bucky got a better response when he flirted, man or woman didn't really matter. Oh well, he was nearly done anyway.  
  
He put a cigarette between his lips and nearly lighted it, but seemingly as an afterthought, he walked over to Edwards with the cigarette case to offer him one.  
  
When he was near, he grabbed Edwards with his left arm around his waist and pushed the case, which was really a concealed tranquilizer gun to his neck. "Sleep tight,” he whispered and squeezed the trigger mechanism.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the song with the same title by Tubeway army 
> 
> Edwards was singing Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode


End file.
